Often the practice of martial arts involves weapons lighting such as, for example, kendo (Japanese) and kumdo (Korean) sword fighting. In such practice, devices, for example, armor are used to protect the head, the body, and the hand/wrist. These devices allow the practitioner to practice the full extent of their art by allowing the practitioner to strike with full force while avoiding injury to the practitioner's partner. In the practice of sword fencing in kendo and kumdo for instance, a bamboo sword is used to strike the following areas: the head (men-Japanese/mori-Korean), the wrist (kote-Japanese/son-Korean), the waist (do-Japanese/hori-Korean), and the throat (tsuki-Japanese/mok-Korean) and the traditional armor 10 as shown in FIG. 1 is made to protect these areas. The traditional armor 10 generally includes a helmet 12, a chest plate 14, gloves 16, and a skirt 20. The skirt 20 protects the hips and legs in case of a slip from the strike to the waist. The skirt 20 (“tare” in Japanese and “kapsang” in Korean) is constructed from heavy canvas. Because the hips and thighs are not “legal” targets in sword fighting, the skirt provides only moderate protection but does not protect against a full-forced attack.
The skirt 20 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 2. The skirt 20 includes a belt 22 and a plurality of primary panels 24 and secondary panels 26 extending from the belt. The primary panels 24 overlap the secondary panels 26. The skirt 20 includes ties 28 extending from either end of the belt 22. To wear the skirt 20, the user positions the belt 22 such that the secondary panels 26 are proximate the body. The belt 22 is wrapped around the user's waist to provide primary and secondary panels 24, 26 extending in front of and behind the user. The ties 28 are crossed behind the user and then brought together in front of the user where they are tied together to secure the skirt 20 to the user. The secured ties 28 are positioned under one of the panels 24 of the skirt to avoid in advertent untying of the skirt 20.